Bringing Down the Dogmen How a pair of undercover cops infiltrated the secret world

TROTLINE · Feb 19, 2016

Re: Bringing Down the Dogmen How a pair of undercover cops infiltrated the secret wo

I heard of this second hand first time reading the article! I think the DA was thinking these guys are liking it! That's why he wouldn't let it go to try and catch the boys from Mexico!? About A year or so I saw A Lisa Ling special about cops working under cover, with drugs. They were buying and selling and 'strung out like A sugar mill jackass" SELLING one person had been in NA and clean for some time until he ran into these guys! Just think about "Fast and Furious" selling weapons to the cartels so they can track them!!!! I personally think it leads back to Corporate Prisons, when they went private they were promised A quota!! It's ALWAYS about the Benjamin's!!! Keep the population uneducated and afraid of go'n to hell, they become ignorant and plyable!!!

patjr · Feb 19, 2016

Re: Bringing Down the Dogmen How a pair of undercover cops infiltrated the secret wo

"Theres two types of criminals,,, those who break the law and those who break them when enforcing them"...EP...
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SHIT!!!!.....who's left???.....narcs and snitches LOL.

Forever-So REAL · Feb 19, 2016

Re: Bringing Down the Dogmen How a pair of undercover cops infiltrated the secret wo

QUOTE from another thread

Marty said: ↑

[size=-1]Beaumont,TX -- [/size]Thomas Weigner, shot above the right knee, bled to death Aug. 1 in rural Liberty County.

His tied-up family, including three children, witnessed it while the gun-wielding robbers searched for money and firearms.

Here - in a brick ranch-style home down County Road 2252, which eventually leads to the Trinity River bottom - is where at least three masked men raided Weigner's fenced-off property.

Weigner, 27, was awakened by his barking American pit bull terriers, about 300 of them on 24 acres about 60 miles west of Beaumont.

The crime could have been a common thug's smash-and-grab job gone wrong, but investigators also suspect Weigner's dogfighting ties and money might have been factors.

Weigner's death opened a small gateway into the dogfighting subculture that local authorities rarely glimpse, according to Southeast Texas investigators. The dogfighting society stretches throughout the region as well as across the nation and overseas, they said.

Lawmen believe Weigner was at or near the top tier of the dogfighting underground, and authorities from the FBI and Texas Department of Public Safety are investigating the case.

"It's all part of a larger dogfighting operation," said John Goodwin, a deputy manager of animal-fighting issues and investigator for the Humane Society of the United States. "It didn't end with Thomas Weigner being shot. ... He's in a network at the top of the (dogfighting) list."

The dogfighting network ties together men like Weigner and his Westpenn Kennels, his elite-bloodline breeding operation, and local amateurs and "hobbyists" entering the game with dogs not genetically altered to be the true pit fighting dogs that Weigner developed, Goodwin said in a telephone conversation from his Washington, D.C., office.

Southeast Texas authorities who investigate pit bull operations said the subculture is so closed and secretive that busts are rare.

In Jefferson County, authorities had 23 dogfighting cases in the last two years, Assistant District Attorney Ann Manes said, adding that one person could be charged with a count for each dog involved. Overall in the region since 2000, at least 52 people have been arrested and 25 dogs seized in connection with suspected dogfighting.

Nationally, hundreds of dogfights are busted each year and as many 20,000 people, mostly men, are involved, Goodwin said.

Goodwin said the traditionally rural activity has become more popular in urban areas such as Beaumont and Houston. However, the city operations are largely disorganized and difficult to bust, he said.

Manes, who prosecutes local cruelty cases, said dogfighters typically are charged with owning or training a dog with the intent to use it in a fighting exhibition - a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a $4,000 fine. Rarely are they caught during dogfights, attended by screaming spectators throwing down bets.

"It's almost always circumstantial (evidence)," Manes said.

A difficult pursuit

Sgt. Mark Timmers, a Houston Humane Society and Harris County animal cruelty investigator, said a "blind man" could recognize a fight occurred with so much evidence spread over a crime scene. This includes evidence such as a pit, blood-smeared walls and scar-faced dogs.

Nevertheless, culpability is tough to prove, creating a frustrating and sometimes futile chase for investigators, Timmers said.

Beaumont police Detective Tina Lewallen, who investigates Beaumont's animal cruelty crimes, regularly sees fighting dogs with punctured necks, scarred snouts and torn-off ears when they are seized from owners suspected of animal cruelty.

But a significant dogfight hasn't been busted in Beaumont since November 2003, when police arrested eight people and animal control took 15 dogs.

When police arrived, spectators scattered like startled quail, Lewallen said. Money flew in the air while officers detained anyone they could grab.

Meanwhile, the dogs kept fighting, she said.

Beaumont Animal Control Supervisor Greg Parker, who arrived at the scene 20 minutes after police, remembered bloody, exhausted dogs on Idylwood Street.

Pit-bull handlers regularly train fighting dogs inside the city limits, Lewallen said, and then they take them to large fights in surrounding rural towns such as Cheek and China so the fighting dogs and rowdy bettors avoid attracting unwanted attention.

"They have secret codes to find out where the dogfights are," Lewallen said.

Sheriff's department officials in Hardin, Newton and Tyler counties believe dogfighting occurs within their jurisdictions, but there have been no busts in recent memory.

It takes surveillance, manpower and extensive intelligence to make a bust, Timmers said.

Often, it's just by accident or luck.

In 2000, for example, the Jasper County Sheriff's Department arrested 49 spectators who attended a dogfight. Attending a dogfight is a Class C misdemeanor carrying a maximum penalty of a $500 fine.

Jasper County Sheriff's Detective Aaron Tippett said officers just happened to be within 15 minutes of the fight's location just west of Kirbyville.

Like the Beaumont bust, money flew in the air, onlookers screamed and then dashed in every imaginable direction, Tippett said. Two men even ran through a barbed-wire fence, according to The Enterprise archives.

"The problem is most of the people that (attend) pit bull fights are thieves anyway," Tippett said. "Thieves stealing from thieves. It doesn't get reported that often."

Breeding operations such as Weigner's Westpenn Kennels are easier to find, but even in this case, it was not because of a complaint against dogfighting. It was Weigner's death that exposed the operation and led to the seizure of 285 dogs living in cruel conditions.

"Law enforcement, we're basically unaware of what is going on," Timmers said. "It's very organized. ... I'm not talking about the backyard stuff."

In fact, many Web sites associated with the guarded society require references to gain access. Only the highly trusted are invited.
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Marty said: ↑

A growing concern

In the fighting underground, the dogmen romanticize their "sport," claiming they return the breed to its 19th century English roots when fighting's popularity grew, Diane Jessup, a Washington-based pit bull breeder, authority and author, said in a telephone conversation. The dogfighters have made the breed a status symbol for machismo. They live through the breed and attract younger men by dramatizing the sport.

Bloodlines developed largely by venerable white men now are being promoted by a hip-hop culture, Jessup said. The bloodline history and the American pit bull terrier's gameness fascinate some common citizens.

"There are a whole bunch of people out there that are attracted by dogs with game pedigrees," she said.

The breed's keenly aggressive nature makes them the elite fighting dog, better than any other breed, Jessup said. So owning a pit bull is a statement of dominance, she said, and for some, hopefully, an invitation into the dogfighting world.

Goodwin said the pit bull breeding industry grows with it. And the fighting involves new players who are more aggressive and violent.

For lawful breeders, illegitimate practices have smeared the breed, pit bull enthusiasts say. The dogs are human-friendly, they say, but the over-breeding and the haphazard sale to anyone willing to buy has put the breed in the wrong hands.

"They're scumbags," said Jessup, who trains pit bulls for police work. "There's no mystique there in the dogfighting rings. When you're close to it, you see it's really a disturbed bunch of individuals that are living through their dogs. They talk about how much they respect them. ... No, they're idiots."

Secret world revealed

During the Aug. 7 pit bull seizure at Weigner's property, training equipment, including a treadmill and water tank, was discovered, said Liberty County Sheriff Greg Arthur, whose department is handling the homicide investigation.

However, investigators found no evidence on site of dogfighting, Arthur said.

But where the investigation could lead is what compels authorities.

"This is the first time when it's been such a high-level player," Goodwin said of Weigner's homicide and its connection to dogfighting. "This time it was somebody big."

Goodwin says Weigner was a professional dogfighter on whom Goodwin and the Humane Society have kept watch since he gained prominence in the fighting world two years ago - about the time he moved to Liberty County from Pennsylvania.

Dick Wheelan, the attorney for Weigner's wife, Julie Laban, said in a telephone interview from his Houston office that Laban denied all claims of dogfighting.

Arthur said the crime's link to suspected robberies of alleged dogmen in Michigan, Georgia and South Carolina is being investigated.

Goodwin believes the crimes are linked.

"When you have these high-end dogfights, you have violent men who come in for a violent blood sport," Goodwin said. "They gamble large sums of money on it. Of course, they all bring guns, because they don't want to be robbed and lose those hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"When you mix that sort of adrenaline and testosterone with a violent blood sport and all that money, you've got yourself a combustible situation and sometimes it erupts.

"We've heard about shootouts at fights, but now it's moving to a new level where they are following people to their homes and killing them."

For Liberty County's Arthur, the homicide is a top priority that uncovered a world he knew little about.

"I didn't realize dogfighting was as big an industry as it is," Arthur said in his office. "I've learned more about dogfighting than I wanted to know."

fakrift@beaumontenterprise.com

(409) 880-0728

[font=Times, serif]Dogfighting phrases and terms[/font]

American Dog Breeders: A registry founded in 1909 exclusively for American pit bull terriers

Bleeder: In combat, a term for a ruptured vein or artery that produces substantial bleeding.

Breaking stick: A wedge-shaped stick, typically made of wood, used to break a pit bull's bite hold in a fight.

Catch weight: Unstipulated matching weights or any pit bull weighing more than 52 pounds.

Champion: A dog who has won three contract matches.

Courtesy scratch: At a match's conclusion, both dogs should still show aggression. The losing dog is released to make a short, no-contact scratch. The winner is allowed to scratch back.

Crop-eared: Ears are snipped for a tougher look, however cropped ears is an owner's personal preference and shouldn't affect a match.

Cur: A pit bull who is not deeply game or aggressive or any breed that isn't an American pit bull terrier.

Dead game: The description given to a dog who never quit trying to kill his or her opponent despite serious injuries.

Fast-mouthed: In combat, a dog that makes numerous bite holds in rapid succession

Flirtpole: An exercise device where a lure is attached to a pole.

Gambler's delight: A dog that shows bad signs, but is actually game.

Game: Dogfighting; or a dog's aggression and tenacity despite facing serious injury.

Grand champion: A dog who has won five contract matches without losing.

Handler: The person who oversees a dog during a fight.

Match dog: A dog used in a contract match.

Pick-up: A handler picks up his dog when he concedes the fight.

Pit or box: The arena where dogfights occur. Typically made using plywood walls, it measures up to 20 square feet. They are designed to be disassembled and portable.

Register of Merit (ROM): Dog list established by the "Sporting Dog Journal," a discontinued magazine. A dog is credited with one point for each champion produced and an additional point for grand champion produced.

Roll or bump: A controlled pitting of dogs as a training exercise to find dogs suitable for real matches.

Rough-mouthed dog: a dog who shakes his or her opponent when biting.

Untouched: a dog that hasn't been fought.

Source: Humane Society of the United States

http://www.southeasttexaslive.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17087403&BRD=2287&PAG=461&dept_id=512588&rfi=6

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wicked13 · Feb 19, 2016

Re: Bringing Down the Dogmen How a pair of undercover cops infiltrated the secret wo

How to you train a pitbull for police work don't make sense

Robertosilva · Feb 19, 2016

Re: Bringing Down the Dogmen How a pair of undercover cops infiltrated the secret wo

wicked13 said: ↑

How to you train a pitbull for police work don't make sense
Click to expand...

Feed him donuts funded by tax payers money and train it to kill black people.

Robertosilva · Feb 19, 2016

Re: Bringing Down the Dogmen How a pair of undercover cops infiltrated the secret wo

On a serious note here is an article relevant to the great work Police and rescuers do.

This Police Pit Bull Is Bucking the Trend
NY: This Police Pit Bull Is Bucking the Trend

AGK · Feb 19, 2016

Re: Bringing Down the Dogmen How a pair of undercover cops infiltrated the secret wo

Robertosilva said: ↑

Feed him donuts funded by tax payers money and train it to kill black people.
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Lmfao :lol:

Robertosilva · Feb 19, 2016

Re: Bringing Down the Dogmen How a pair of undercover cops infiltrated the secret wo

AGK said: ↑

Lmfao :lol:
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Only joking my best friend at school is now a detective. He is the perfect candidate for the job, he was a pathological liar, arrogant, self centre had no regard for other peoples feelings, judgemental and also like his fair share of drugs and lost his virginity to a prostitiute.

True story.

Robertosilva · Feb 19, 2016

Re: Bringing Down the Dogmen How a pair of undercover cops infiltrated the secret wo

Reminds me of the time when he bought £50 worth of fake £1 coins and we hit the bars and clubs when we were 16, practically a free night. They didn't work on vending machines as they didn't have the right weight and if you kept them together they rubbed off some of the coating, but in a dark nightclub as long as you mixed them in with real coins, no problems.

wicked13 · Feb 20, 2016

Re: Bringing Down the Dogmen How a pair of undercover cops infiltrated the secret wo

Robertosilva said: ↑

Only joking my best friend at school is now a detective. He is the perfect candidate for the job, he was a pathological liar, arrogant, self centre had no regard for other peoples feelings, judgemental and also like his fair share of drugs and lost his virginity to a prostitiute.

True story.
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Shit that's the makings of being head of the police department

Fyrehound · Feb 27, 2016

Re: Bringing Down the Dogmen How a pair of undercover cops infiltrated the secret wo

Damn, reading articles like this angers me, yet it's so hard to look away. Misery loves company I guess. Sucks that no matter how careful you are, it's always other people you have to worry about...

ELIAS'PISTOLA · Feb 28, 2016

Re: Bringing Down the Dogmen How a pair of undercover cops infiltrated the secret wo

wicked13 said: ↑

How to you train a pitbull for police work don't make sense
Click to expand...

look up the story of a bulldog named popsicle...

ELIAS'PISTOLA · Feb 29, 2016

Re: Bringing Down the Dogmen How a pair of undercover cops infiltrated the secret wo

If they were that close to catching a killer that killed for next to nothing and is on the run in mexico,,,
but sending dogs to the us by two mexican brothers,,, some of these dogs were stolen from the man murdered in front of his family,,, but because he was a dogman they could care less and rather go after the men fighting dogs instead of the men killing them,,, dont make much sense...

does anyone know of the person that killed westpenn or the mexican brothers???
I hate to speculate,,, but wasnt evolution kennels two brothers that also went to mexico???
The people that support these activities need to be held responsible for the actions they support...

Naustroms · Feb 29, 2016

Re: Bringing Down the Dogmen How a pair of undercover cops infiltrated the secret wo

They put that on Dtown because he had pending shit against him and they figured if they grabbed him they could turn him into an informant. The brothers had him down in Mexico doing what he did best raising and shaping dogs.

Kenaii · Mar 5, 2016

Re: Bringing Down the Dogmen How a pair of undercover cops infiltrated the secret wo

This quote from Rogers really stuck out to me

"But I will tell you that every night, I dream about my dogs making their moves, feinting to the left and then attacking to the right. My dogs were great dogs. They were beautiful, strong dogs. Oh, man, they were beautiful.”

Dogmen are barbaric assholes who don't give a shit about their dogs. Amirite guys?

that was sarcasm, please don't kill me

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